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Cyber security and situational awareness research has impacted organisations' strategy, policy and practice. Impact was delivered through nuWARP (Northumbria University Warning, Advice and Reporting Point) registered as part of the UK Government's Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure. International impact: direct contribution to EU Cyber Security Strategy; improved practices at the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; redeveloped business model at Star Spreads (online gambling company) leading to safer practices for customers. National impact: contributed to improved business models and policies in SMEs (Washington Metalworks, Shared Interest, SRM Ltd), which have improved data security and online practice.
By default, Internet traffic is vulnerable to eavesdropping and modification. TLS is a protocol that has become the de facto method for securing application-layer messages. TLS is implemented in all major web browsers and servers and is used daily by hundreds of millions of people for applications such as e-commerce, social networking and Internet banking. Royal Holloway researchers identified flaws in the way in which TLS encrypts data, resulting in practical attacks that compromised the security goals of TLS. The researchers also helped major vendors, such as Google, Microsoft and Oracle, to assess and develop countermeasures to the attacks.
Some 77% of victims wait until they have had more than 100 incidents of unwanted behaviour before they tell anyone about it. More than 1.2 million women and 900,000 men are stalked in the UK every year (British Crime Survey.) The research investigated the characteristics of stalkers and has: (i) changed police practice in UK police forces in investigating cases of alleged stalking offences through supporting the adoption of the Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Harassment (DASH) threat assessment checklist within every police station in England and Wales; (ii) informed public policy debate and the introduction of anti-stalking legislation and raising public awareness of the nature and dangers of stalking behaviour.
Research from the world leading Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR) influences policy decisions and practice at national and international levels.
The specific examples cited in this case study demonstrate the role CCSR research played in shaping electronic voting and electronic government in the UK, leading to the suspension of electronic voting in 2008 and an annual cost saving to the UK Government of £4m, and impacts on European ICT research policy including direct contributions to an EGE Opinion, namely the "The Opinion on Ethics and ICT". EGE Opinions are considered to be "soft law" as they are authoritative in their area of expertise. The `Opinion on Ethics and ICT' guided ICT research policy with regards to ethics and ICT during the FP7 funding programme, and it has been adopted as a set of underpinning principles for the Horizon 2020 programme. Other research findings have similarly informed the Horizon 2020 cross cutting theme of `Responsible Research and Innovation'.
Lancaster University's pioneering research on Quality-of-Service (QoS) architecture has led to significant impact on the development of TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) — the digital radio standard used by emergency and public safety services globally. The route to impact was via UK projects on Mobile and Emergency Multimedia. It involved the transfer of QoS technology and know-how to HW Communications Ltd (HWC), a Lancaster-based SME. HWC became instrumental in developing the outcomes of our collaboration in TETRA's Multimedia Exchange Layer (MEX) standard and its specification for TETRA II (or TETRA Enhanced Data Services, TEDS) — a new version of TETRA that enables multimedia data services. MEX was adopted as a new clause in the TETRA II release in 2010. The impact is that vendors of TETRA equipment manufactured after 2010 can implement MEX in their products, thereby leveraging Lancaster's pioneering QoS research to enable applications to obtain the best possible level of service in a standardised way — which is absolutely crucial for the public-safety and related applications for which TETRA is being used.
The case described shows that our research reporting on the limitations and challenges associated with traditional approaches to presentation and management of information search results for different types of users has led to design and implementation of non-conventional user interface technology - INVISQUE (Interactive Visual Search and Query Environment [7]). This technology has had a direct influence and usage in a range of domains including information seeking in Citizens Advice Bureaux and in the security domain both nationally (UK Ministry of Defence) and internationally (US Dept. of Homeland Security). The research has created a community of practice around the emerging field of Visual Analytics and has formed the basis of a successful FP7 project (EC grant €13.1M) bringing together a consortium of 18 industrial, internationally leading Visual Analytics researchers (e.g. PNNL, University of Konstanz, City University London), and police end-user partners, from across the UK, Europe and the US.
The Network & Information Security Technology Lab (NISTL) at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) conducts research in securing networked systems against the growing threat of cyber crime. The research has generated a correlated set of new security protocols, novel system composition methods and efficient digital forensic analysis schemes for more effective layered security protection. Their main impacts for the period 01/2008 - 07/2013 are highlighted below:
In addition to the above direct impacts, our work is also beneficial to other organisations and even the general public, as they all require security techniques for information protection.
Improvements in digital screen technology early in this millennium facilitated cost effective use of digital signage (DS) (screens in a public place showing video). The problem was that no research was available on the extent to which consumers welcome DS or on the effectiveness of any advertisements transmitted using this medium.
Brunel research has led to most UK shopping malls now carrying DS and to retail DS ads using more entertaining or affective content that increases `footfall' to advertisers and greater loyalty especially from first time shoppers. The research led to a general impact in terms of improved customer experience and specific impact on sales growth and revenue. The result is greater enjoyment and satisfaction for shoppers and higher sales for advertisers and retailers.
Mobile technologies and in particular mobile applications have become key drivers of the economy in many countries especially those that lack established communications infrastructures. Since 2003, the research team led by Professor Al-Begain has created both significant infrastructure and know-how that became the base for the creation of the £6.4million Centre of Excellence in Mobile Applications and Services (CEMAS) that is providing research and development to SMEs in Wales to increase their competitiveness. In the first three years since its inception 28 projects have been completed and 66 companies have received services.
This case study describes how research on the rights of victims of cyberstalking conducted by a CRiL researcher in collaboration with researchers from other disciplines has:
(a) informed the views of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the context of the adoption by the European Parliament of a new directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime;
(b) influenced the formulation of new prosecutorial policies by the UK Crown Prosecution Service in relation to crimes committed through social media; and
(c) made information available to law enforcement agencies within the UK involved in the repression of cybercrimes.
Through its impact on the adoption of new EU legislation and UK prosecutorial policies, and by providing relevant information to UK law enforcement officials, the research has had a positive impact on the protection of individuals — including in particular the most vulnerable - from cyberstalking, both at the national and European level.